A/N~ The italics are Ginny's thoughts- the BOLD ITALICS are Harry's. =)

Chapter Five

"And beyond it, a green glade…"

They had made it passed the gold trees without any problems and were now entering the silver trees. Of course nothing DOES happen until after we pass the diamond ones… Perhaps I should warn Harry… Looking over at the distant look in Harry's normally alert eyes, she allowed a tiny pinprick of annoyance to stab through her. The least he could do is pay a *little* attention to me! I am his- er- host…kind of. Humph! Well if he's going to be all distant I don't suppose I HAVE to tell him what's going to happen… It's not really DANGEROUS, more of a nice series of surprises! At least he won't ignore me then!

What Ginny couldn't have known was that Harry was doing more than 'paying a little attention to her' he was OBSESSING about her- Funny I never really noticed all those cute little freckles on her nose. Her nose is really cute too- it's so tiny. STOP HARRY. Control yourself! It's not like you've never seen a girl before! Think of Cho… that always used to keep you preoccupied before! Dark black hair with brownish highlights… Can't really be classified as highlights really, I mean look at Ginny's hair- It's that pretty auburn-red color- but in the light there are all of those streaks of gold, copper, and those dark burgundy strands… It's so soft looking, I wonder what it feels like… Whoa! WHOA! Stop looking at Ginny's hair you prat! In fact… stop looking at Ginny! Think of Cho! Think of chess! Think of ANYTHING but Ginny! Chess. Okay, I'll think about chess. Of course I'm not as good at it as Ron- he beats me every time we play. And Hermione doesn't really like playing against anyone but Ron… (Gee, I wonder why.) It's so funny to see the two of them lock eyes over the chess table. If Ron would just REALLY open his bloody eyes he'd probably notice that Hermione enjoys those little competitive eye locks a little more then the game itself... But maybe he is figuring it out…I could have sworn I saw him get a little miffed when Hermione started talking to Seamus earlier… Funny how different brown eyes look when the person who has them looks mad- All golden amber with little streaks of darker brown along the iris… and they heat up when she's mad like she could fry you where you're standing with one look… SHE? ACK! STOP THINKING OF GINNY AND HER EYES! The eyes that are looking a little heated right now… Gulp.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asked as politely as he could, trying to figure out as quickly as possible what he did to make her eyes spark so murderously. He noticed immediately that she was no longer holding her hand, and instead had both of them planted on her hips in a gesture of annoyance.

"I've been waiting for five minutes to tell you that we're almost out of the diamond trees and to the middle of the forest" She replied coolly.

Harry looked around… The silver trees that had surrounded him when he began his little mental vacation were long gone, and instead, they were standing along a row of trees that sparkled with the brightness only diamonds could create. The trees themselves looked very similar to the weeping willows back home. The only difference being that the long ropes of leaves that adorned the trees were each made up of sparkling diamonds that formed a sort of glittery vine trailing inches above the forest floor.

"Wow." Was all that he could get muster.

"Yeah, they're beautiful aren't they?" Ginny seemed to have forgotten her earlier displeasure with him and was instead occupied in viewing the brilliant trees in front of them.

Harry looked over and saw a very distinct expression gracing Ginny's delicate face… One of longing. Apparently, Ginny, like many girls before her, was just as fixated on diamonds as all the other females in the world. What's that expression again? 'A diamond is a girls best friend'? I guess it's pretty accurate….

Sighing, and showing obvious reluctance, Ginny turned back around and called for Harry to follow, "I think the forest ends right over here- Come on!"

But Harry was remembering a certain fairytale, and before he could change his mind he strode up to the diamond tree and snapped off a glittering strand. Stuffing it in his pocket, and trying to ignore the indignant clang of the tree- he muttered an apology to the broken branch and searched his other pocket for something to offer it for barter.

A small pocket watch bought in Diagon Alley that told the weather was all that he could find that was of value. He winced as he thought of how MUCH value. Surely a tree could find knowing the weather helpful… "I hope that you'll accept this as a replacement for the branch I took- I'm terribly sorry if I caused you pain." His previous courage deserting him- he gently set the pocket watch against the tree's trunk and tore off after Ginny.

He came to an abrupt halt as his mind tried to process exactly what his eyes were seeing. Ginny was patting a white Pegasus on the head in the middle of a grassy clearing that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Impish amber eyes glanced at him before returning to the Pegasus in front of her. "Took you long enough." She began, "I was beginning to think that you were so caught up in whatever you were thinking about that you had forgotten about me entirely."

Her words were dry and perhaps a little hurt- But Harry couldn't help but recognize the irony of her statement, and he almost groaned aloud. Luckily for him, he realized quickly enough that if he were to carry out that action it would quite possibly be the last one he would ever make. So, instead, he just told the truth, "I don't think that would be possible Ginny."

The seriousness in his words and the look in his eyes made Ginny believe that he was being completely honest. So, of course, she perked right up. Apparently the Pegasus picked up on her sudden change of mood, because the cheeky creature seemed to wink at Ginny with one sapphire-colored eye right before it turned around and got onto it's knees.

Flicking her tail, and whinnying, the Pegasus made it quite clear that she was waiting. Ginny knew the drill, after all- she had done this all before. What bothered her was the fact that she could remember how difficult it was to stay seated on the flying horse the FIRST time. When there was just *one* person that needed to stay seated on the Pegasus' back.

Because of the wings, riders could only hold on by sitting at the very front of the horse- right by the slope of its neck. How are we supposed to stay on with the TWO of us trying to hold on?!? The Pegasus let out another wicker of impatience. "All right, alright! We're coming!" She muttered.

"What exactly do you mean by 'we're coming'?" Harry demanded. Ginny jumped in surprise- he was standing at her elbow. "She's here to take us to the castle." She explained, feeling a little low for not telling him about the rest of the dream ahead of time.

"The CASTLE?!?" He yelped, in disbelief. "Wait. WHAT castle EXACTLY?"

"The one covered in roses…" She admitted hesitantly.

"Now there's a castle covered in roses?! Why can't you have nice normal dreams about talking farm animals or something?" Seeing Ginny's instant grin, Harry cut in before she could say a word, "Never mind, I get the feeling I don't really want to know."

"Ron and I saw the movie "Doctor Doolittle" once- the images kind of stuck."

Wide-eyed with innocence, Ginny just smiled angelically as she settled herself on the Pegasus' narrow back. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of "Sleeping Beauty" have you Harry?"

Climbing on after her, and barely getting a grip on Ginny's slender waist before the great animal leapt into the air, Harry's mutter was lost on the whistling wind. "Why do I get the feeling that I'd be better off in a dream with giant snails and talking horses?"

AN) I apologize for the wait… Things have been pretty crazy lately.

Please review!

~Ellie

PS~ Thanks to all of my previous reviewers! Hugs to all!

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